His Dark Materials, Indeed

Imagine worlds where polar bears wear armor and are available for hire (as
assassins!), where one can simply cut through one world to the next, and where eventually
everybody will have a world where there are no rules. Sound like a place where you might
want to live? Probably not, but it is only a sampling of what is included in some of the
most popular children’s books today.

Phillip Pullman, a British author, over the last several years produced a trilogy
that has brought rave reviews from everyone from the elite literary scholar to school
teachers and librarians. The intriguing story and spectacular characters have drawn in
readers from every age, genre, and continent. The name of the trilogy is His Dark
Materials, and the names of the books are: TheGolden Compass, The
Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. The first book, The Golden
Compass, has been made into a movie and is set to hit theaters nationwide on December
7th. However, there is something about these books (and movie) that every
concerned Christian parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, etc. should be made aware of.

Pullman is a devout atheist, and makes no bones about where he stands. In fact, his
books have anti-God/Christian themes plastered throughout them. His villain is a being
only called “The Authority,” who is actually God in his books. Pullman
pictures the God of the Bible as one who is an angel that has taken control of Heaven and
rules over the other angels; much like something from Greek mythology.

Pullman’s views about God have been expressed clearly in the following
statement:

Well, it is not that I hate God, it is just because I don't believe in God, it is
just that I think the people who do believe in God and persecute the people who don't
believe in God are thoroughly dangerous, that is the way I would put it. People who have
got an idea of God that makes them want to persecute other people for not believing their
idea of God, they are the dangerous ones, people who say we have got the truth and the
truth is in the Bible or the Koran or the whatever it is and we know the truth, and we
are going to kill everybody who doesn't believe things that we believe, that is a
dreadful state of affairs and it is an unfortunate part of human nature that it seems to
be attracted to this sort of extreme certainty and arrogance and so much so that they
want to make everybody else believe the way they do and kill everybody who believes
different. And I think that is the dangerous thing and those are the people I mistrust
and fear and would fight against willingly. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/)

Does the reader remember the last time a group of Christians stormed the streets of
their towns and cities with their torches and pitch forks, seeking atheists to burn at
the stake? Didn’t think so. So why does Pullman portray Christian society with such
a mob mentality? Could it be that he desires to do this very thing to Christians?

Pullman’s tirade against God, and thus all that is moral and decent, is public
knowledge. He has denounced God and the belief in God in many public interviews. In one
interview, when asked concerning science as taught in our society, he opined: “I
think we're far too superstitious on the whole. As for disgraceful betrayals of wisdom
such as the pretense that there is something called ‘creation science’ and we
ought to give it equal time in schools with proper science --- I'm ashamed to belong to a
human race that is so sunk in abject ignorance and willful stupidity.”

One should be more surprised that someone as supposedly intelligent as Pullman could
condemn creation science (i.e., the belief that God breathed this world into existence)
as something to be believed by those who are drowning in “abject ignorance”
and “willful stupidity.” What he terms “proper science” is only a
euphemism for Darwinian, or evolutionary, science. Evolutionary science teaches that
nothing and nothing collided in the middle of nothing and created something; and from
nothing all we see today came. While creation science teaches just what the Bible
teaches; God created the Universe from nothing. That is, something created something out
of nothing. Pullman should be ashamed to let his abject ignorance and willful stupidity
be know to all. The old adage is true: “It is better to look foolish and remain
silent than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.”

Pullman calls his His Dark Materials books that deal with “stark
realism.” Pullman also declared: “I’m telling a story about a realistic
subject, but I’m using the mechanism of fantasy. I think that’s slightly
unusual.” The realism Pullman is foisting on the unsuspecting is that of the
atheistic/humanistic variety. Pullman is a leading member of the British Humanist
Association. Humanism teaches that mankind, if left alone without any rules or authority,
will become a better society. Really?

Imagine a world where there were no rules. Suppose all traffic laws were suspended
for one day. Would the accidents, injuries, and even deaths come to a screeching halt?
Or, would they accumulate to unreal proportions? The reader is well aware that the latter
suggestion would be the norm for this day of bedlam. So why do so many choose to believe
that if God and all moral laws were removed that the world would be a better place to
live. All one has to do is observe the chaos that ensues when a major city has a power
outage. The streets are overrun with looting, murders, and all manner of crime. (All who
are reading this remember well hurricane Katrina and the mayhem that followed the
devastation of the hurricane in New Orleans. Many women were raped, some people murdered,
and a host of robberies took place…within the “safety” of the
Superdome! Does this sound like a better society?)

Pullman continues his devilish diatribe against biblical fundamentals with an
interview with his publisher. He says that the fall of man was not the “source of
all woe and misery,” but “the beginning of human freedom—something to
be celebrated, not lamented.” Amazing how one who does not even believe in God or
the Bible can use the Bible when it suits his agenda and philosophy. Yet again, his
humanistic nature comes through with brilliant colors.

Pullman brings out his hatred of what he believes to be Christianity when one of his
heroes in the book says: “I thought physics could be done to the glory of God, till
I saw there wasn’t any God at all and that physics was more interesting anyway. The
Christian religion is a very powerful and convincing mistake, that’s all.”
How is that for a flat denial of Christianity? Do we really want our beloved young ones
(or old ones) reading such propaganda against the One we serve?

Pullman admits, “My view of the church and religion was shaped simply by a
reading of history.” That is, secular history. Keep in mind, Pullman’s view
of “the Church” is purely Roman Catholic. His tirade against the Church of
the Magisterium in the books is modeled after the corrupt Roman version of the divine
institution. Although he does take the time to castigate every one else too when one of
his pagan characters says: “Every church is the same: control, destroy, obliterate
every good feeling.” If the humanistic religion (it is a religion)
were to have its way, they would have control of the world. The last quote also denotes
his hedonistic side. Hedonism teaches that every one should do whatever feels good,
without any regard for rules or consequences.

The following excerpt from the book will reveal how staunch Pullman is against God
and Christianity:

The Authority, god, the Creator, the Lord, Yahweh, El, Adonai, the King, the
Father the Almighty – those were all names he gave himself. He was never the
creator. He was an angel like ourselves – the first angel, true, the most powerful,
but he was formed of Dust as we are, and Dust is only a name for what happens when matter
begins to understand itself….The first angels condensed out of Dust, and the
Authority was the first of all. He told those who came after him that he had created
them, but it was a lie.

…I met an angel: a female angel….She said that all the history of
human life has been a struggle between wisdom and stupidity. She and the rebel angels,
the followers of wisdom, have always tried to open minds; the Authority and his churches
have always tried to keep them closed.

The Authority considers that conscious beings of every kind have become
dangerously independent….

There are two great powers….and they’ve been fighting since time
began….Every little increase in human freedom has been fought over ferociously
between those who want us to know more and be wiser and stronger, and those who want us
to obey and be humble and submit.

Such sophomoric rambling sounds more like something that would be screamed out of a
window at ATF or FBI officers at Ruby Ridge or Waco than in a children’s book; or
maybe off the New Age shelf at the local bookstore. Pullman’s books are full of
such nonsense; and it is aimed at the pure minds of our children. He preaches his
religion in his books, with our children and grandchildren directly in the cross hairs of
his humanistic philosophy.

Someone may ask: “What is wrong with reading the books and watching the movies?
” There are many things wrong with the Christian allowing his and/or her children
to take part in such irreverent meanderings.

If we buy these books and go to the movies (there is also a video game out for
The Golden Compass) we are supporting an outspoken advocate of atheism. Proceeds
from what we spend on the above mentioned things will further his cause. One may argue:
“We buy many things everyday from people who are probably atheist or at least anti
organized religion.” True, but have they rubbed our face in the fact that they hate
God and Christianity? Probably not. If they do, we should take the same action and not do
business with them.

God’s people are commanded to live a separated life from the world and keep
our lives pure from those who practice evil {2 Corinthians 6:14-18}. His children must
walk in the light of the Gospel to remain pure {1 John 1:7}. By purchasing, and thus
supporting, this ungodly man and his material we are leaving the light and delving into
the darkness of Pullman’s disgruntled world. Christians are a people who have been
separated from the world by the Gospel to live holy lives before others {2 Thessalonians
2:14; Matthew 5:113-16; 1 Peter 2:5, 9}.

Christians have the obligation not to support such works as Pullman’s His
Dark Materials trilogy. His books may be intriguing, the movie will no doubt be
captivating and entertaining, and the video game will probably keep children entertained
for hours; but God’s people should have not part with such.

God’s precious children must avoid supporting not only these books, movies,
and video games; but anything that is detrimental to the Faith. We should strive to live
our lives pure from any worldly influence that will draw us away from Jehovah.
“Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the
grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedient
children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But
as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because
it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy” {1 Peter 1:13-16}.